Top 3 #9

As you may have gathered by now, there is very little rhyme or reason to my topics on this blog and especially in my weekly top threes'. That's why I wrote an awesome senior essay on James Joyce and Virginia Wolf that secured my AP English success. And I'm also a big fan of extremely long titles, like my ever popular work, Machiavellian influences on Shakespearean Literature and their role on the development of modern Social Ethos.

So, this week's top three is near and dear to my heart....

TOP THREE Church planting organizations in the U.S. (confused?)

In order to be considered for my list, the organization had to do more than just offer conferences and free resources (although those are helpful), they had to actually provide funding and some level of accountability/oversight/ongoing help. Here we go...

3. Several Denominations--I couldn't make this list if it wasn't for the poor job some churches have done in encouraging new and relevant ministry, that being said, I think many are waking up, the North American Mission Board (Southern Baptist), has become pretty aggressive. As have several more pentecostal churches including the Assemblies and Church of God, though they are all playing catch up, but do provide a solid accountability structure as well as financial support.

2. Acts 29 Network-- Large network, well established, doing some very cool stuff. I'm a little uneasy with their stance on the role of women in ministry (They put some restrictions), but this is a fast growing group of churches reaching a lot of people. A cool example of one of their churches is Vintage 21 in Raleigh, NC, probably their most recognizable church is Mars Hill, in Seattle, WA.

1. Association of Related Churches, ARC-- Not just because they have a ton of great guys like Dino Rizzo, Stovall Weems, and Greg Surratt, among others, but because these guys are getting it DONE. Goal to plant 2000 churches by 2020, but they are also planting vibrant growing churches that seem to have a trajectory to really make a difference! A good example of an ARC plant is DCMetro and a famous one is Seacoast in SC.

So that's what was on my mind and now on the list for this week, next week, look for something else completely unrelated to the previous week's topic.